BROOKINGS – After 10 months of work with input from more than 1,000 residents, the City of Brookings finally has a Bicycle Master Plan.

The master plan has three goals:

• Develop a connected bicycle network comfortable for everyone;

• Adopt policies and programs that support a culture of bicycling; and

• Implement the plan efficiently, prudently and effectively.

City councilors approved the 155-page plan on a unanimous vote Tuesday.

Mike Lockrem, chair of the Brookings Bicycle Advisory Committee, said a bike master plan “makes a community more sustainable, it improves the health of a community, and it expands the opportunities for families and kids to ride bikes.”

Its implementation doesn’t happen overnight but rather takes years.

Brookings has plenty of bike enthusiasts but is one of the worst areas of the country for bike networking, Lockrem said.

“The I-29 corridor is not a bike-friendly part of our country. In South Dakota, Brookings and Sioux Falls are the only two communities that have any bike friendly status with a bronze ranking. … Maybe we should be the community along the I-29 corridor that sets the standard for others to follow.”

Lockrem said the plan before the Council was ambitious but worth the effort.

“Today is the start of a process, a process that will include more conversation, more planning, and a journey that we will look back on some day with a sense of accomplishment and pride.”

Shaun Lopez-Murphy, a transportation planner with Toole Design Group, said the benefits of bicycling include increased business revenue and property values, employee retention, better health and safety for the community as a whole, and balanced transportation options.

Lopez-Murphy said there’s only one other community in the Midwest – Minneapolis – that has a higher percentage than Brookings of people biking to work.

Almost three-fourths of Brookings residents already own bicycles, and almost 20 percent of those responding to an online survey said they have someone in their household who normally uses a bicycle to travel.

The Bicycle Master Plan includes a 2025 trail loop followed by a 2040 bikeway network. They include features such as shared-use, separate and standard bike lanes, bicycle boulevards and a trail loop corridor.

Funding for the work should become a regular part of the city budget, Lopez-Murphy said, but there are also opportunities for donations, grants and other resources.

“Not everything needs to be done at once, because it can’t be done at once. There’s no way to do that, but a sense of expectation that things will progress at a reasonable amount.”

Councilor Mary Kidwiler asked if gravel pathways were an option to help reduce expenses. Lopez-Murphy said it was, but compacted limestone trails require ongoing maintenance.

Councilor Dan Hansen said he was happy to see the master plan finally complete. The city spent more than $83,000 for Toole Design Group’s work on the project.

“There were some who questioned why we spent the money we did on the master plan. I felt like for the longest time … we were chasing our tail a little bit when it came to bike paths. I think we often got stuck on parking versus no parking and various other things.”

If people take the time to read the report or at least the executive summary, Hansen continued, “I think they’ll see why it’s important to do some long-term planning and make some new investments.”

After taking a half-dozen comments from the audience at the meeting, almost all in favor of the bike plan, the Council voted 7-0 to approve the document.

Contact Jill Fier at jfier@brookingsregister.com.